Making the Most of the Home You Have

Here at Re-Nest we've written about thoughtfully remodeled older homes, impossibly tiny (but amazing!) apartments and innovative new houses that hit homeruns in the sustainability department. But what if those aren't an option for you? I recently read an article about a family who bought a too-big home during the housing boom and are now in the difficult position of being upside down in their mortgage and unable to sell. While the reasons aren’t always financial, many people are stuck in these less-than-ideal (and less-than-green) living situations. So how do you make the most of it?

While the family featured in the article admitted they had too much space and wanted to downsize, they decided to instead focus on the things they liked about the house. While looking on the bright side can certainly ease the stress of the current economy, I began to wonder about other ways to reduce the impact of a too-big house.

Bigger homes use more energy, so maybe certain rooms or areas of the house could be closed off to reduce heating and cooling bills? Or perhaps a parent or relative could move in to reduce the financial burden? If available, could the homeowner take advantage of local or federal incentives that would increase the efficiency (and value) of the home without incurring a huge cost to the owner?